Deathly Hallows Alternate Ending
by Thisisemmie
Summary: All three of the trio had shouted out the latter curse, and the damage was visibly done. As if in slow motion, the Dark Lord's body fell towards the ground like old waxwork, crumbling into black dust. All that was left of him were his robes.  One Shot.


**Hi. I did this for a school assignment and decided to see what would happen if I put it fanfiction. PLEASE review. I don't like silent readers **

Someone passed close by Harry, and he knew that it was Voldemort himself because he spoke a moment later, his voice magically magnified so that it swelled through the ground, crashing upon Harry's eardrums.

"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."

"We have won. Your hero is dead. You have lost half of your fighters and my Death Eaters outnumber you. Anyone who continues to resist me, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered. Come out of the castle now and accept your fate. Join me in the new world we shall build together."

There was a horrible, shattering silence in the great hall. It was marred slightly by Hagrid repetitive sobs of, "Harry, Oh Harry..." Tears the size of baseballs made their way down his cheeks, into the thick, black fabric of Harry's cloak.

"Stop."

Harry didn't dare move. He heard the jubilant Death Eaters footsteps halt, in rhythm with their master's. Voldemort was so close now. He reached out one pale finger to rest upon the young boy's cheek. It took all of Harry's strength and willpower not to flinch from it, repulsed.

"NO! DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

The shriek, from none other than Ginny Weasley, was so much more terrible because Harry would never have thought that she could make such a sound. She sounded wounded, like an animal. Greif laced into her commonly gentle yet defiant voice. Harry risked his entire cover by opening his eyes an infinitesimal amount just to see her face.

She didn't look well, that was obvious: Her face was pink and blotchy, with remnants of makeup smudged and smeared across her cheeks, her wand pointed at Voldemort's chest. She was also being held up by Ron and Hermione. Both looked dishevelled from their duels and there was a long gash across one of Hermione's cheeks which was bleeding profusely. Neither looked like they cared much about their current state, as each face wore the same expression of heartache: tears falling fast and thick onto the pebbled ground.

"And who is this," Voldemort's snake like voice called. "The girl who continues to fight after her battle has lost."

Bellatrix's eager face let out an exhilarated cry. "It is Ginny Weasley, my Lord. The girl who was giving Snape so much trouble. The girl who was closest to Potter's heart. His _girlfriend._"

"Ah, yes," Voldemort said, looking down on the fierce girl. "I remember our encounters several years ago, don't you?"

Ginny hissed like an angry cat.

"Very well," Voldemort said, "let her mother take her away, I do not wish to spill her pure blood. She comes from noble, wizarding stock." As he spoke, Mrs. Weasley came forward, grabbed the redheads arm and dragged her back into the crowd.

"Speaking of those close to Harry Potter's heart," he slowly continued, "where are his two closest friends? The ones who helped him escape from me all those years, time and time again. The ones who have been fruitlessly helping him find a way to destroy me. Bring them out, the Mudblood and Blood-traitor."

At that exact moment, for yet the hundredth time Harry berated himself for agreeing to let his friends join him on this journey. Hadn't the past taught him that his friends were always going to pay for their loyalty? He must act - And then many things happened at the same moment.

He heard uproar from the distant boundary of the school as what sounded like hundreds of people came swarming over threshold and pelted toward the Death Eaters, uttering loud war cries. The Death Eaters broke away from their master and entered the fray once again. Flashes of green and red lights erupted from wands as the battle commenced. In the midst of the fight, unnoticed by all, Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak from inside his robes, swung it over himself and sprang to his feet.

"SILENCE!" cried Voldemort, and there was a bang and a flash of bright light, and, as though an explosion took place everyone was forced away from each other. "Do as I say, BRING THEM OUT!"

Two masked followers shoved their way into the crowd and grabbed his two dearest friends, none too gently, and shoved them in front of the Dark Lord. Ron and Hermione, who hadn't looked the least bit scared of being face to face with the most evil wizard of all time, glared heavily at Voldemort, wearing an expression Harry hoped he would never see again.

"So," Voldemort began almost musingly. "You two are the ones Potter treasured the most. The ones he brought on a pointless journey to destroy my links to immortality. How special must you feel."

Harry slowly approached his two friends.

"That journey wasn't pointless, there are no more Horcruxes. It's just you against us. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good..." Hermione snarled, drifting off.

"One of us?" jeered Voldemort, his pitless, red eyes staring ahead, like a snake that was about to strike. "You think it will be you? Puppets to the boy who has survived by accident, with Dumbledore pulling the strings. Dumbledore, who always believed love was the greatest power anyone could possess."

"He was always right about that Riddle." Ron countered.

"Love?" Voldemort said, laughing. "Love is the greatest power? Love is the greatest strength? Love never stopped me from doing from I wanted. Love is an accident. Love doesn't _matter!_"

"And that, right there, is where you are wrong," Hermione said. Ignoring the wand pointed between her and Ron and twirling hers around her fingers. "_Accident_ was it, when Harry's mother died to save him?" she asked. "Accident was it, when we escaped Malfoy Manor? Accident that, despite all odds, me and Ron are right here, willing to die to bring you down."

_Here goes nothing_, Harry thought to himself. Approaching the two of them, he laid his hand on each of their shoulders and whispered, "I'm still here." He saw shock flit beneath both their eyes for a second before being replaced with shear hope.

Collecting himself, Ron stood up tall and loudly said, "I hope you realized that if Dumbledore couldn't kill you, we would. I reckon its time you took off your invisibility cloak, Harry."

The shock, the screams, and the cries seemed to reverberate through the cramped alley. Echoes followed each shout through the mass pandemonium. As if each person was one, the screams of: "Harry!", "HE'S ALIVE!" were stifled at once. The crowd was afraid.

Voldemort's chest rose and fell rapidly, and each member of the golden trio could feel the curse coming, feel it building inside the wand pointed at their front.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

All three of the trio had shouted out the latter curse, and the damage was visibly done. As if in slow motion, the Dark Lord's body fell towards the ground like old waxwork, crumbling into black dust. All that was left of him were his robes.

One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then the tumult broke around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. Harry could not hear a word that anyone was shouting, not tell whose hands were seizing him, Ron or Hermione, hundreds of them pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Golden Trio, the reason it was over at last –

Frowning slightly, Hermione freed herself from the torrent of admirers and looked up at the sky. Harry could see what was displeasing her: The Dark Mark, surrounded by its greenish haze was breaking the steady flow of stars which promised a new start for the wizarding world. Bringing up her right arm, she lit her wand and raised it towards the sky. Harry and Ron followed suit and so did all the rest. Together, as one, they watched the starry, night sky rid itself of the evil that had kept it captive for nearly half-a-century. The eclipse was over. All was well.


End file.
